California's Highway 1 undulates along the Pacific Coast, going from one spectacular coastal scene to another. Every 'Vista Point 1/4 mile' sign along the way is rendered superfluous. Highway 1 stretches nearly a thousand miles along the western edge of the continental United States and is most scenic in its central portion starting from just below San Francisco near Half Moon Bay and ending north of Los Angeles near Santa Barbara. In the heart of all this beauty lies Big Sur.
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Few other sections of asphalt are as deserving as the Big Sur section of the little black dots bestowed by AAA on their maps to designate 'scenic drives'. California 1 is the narrow strip of man's creation that mediates between the two eternally competing forces of nature - the rocky, craggy coast on one side and the blue pacific on the other. At times when the sun is in the right place and there are just enough cloudy wisps in the sky, the beauty of the two blues is almost too much to bear. Oftentimes, the micro-climate of Big Sur results in fog sweeping over from the ocean and blurring the edge between land and water. At such times, driving through Big Sur is like floating through the clouds. It's difficult to say which is better but you might be able to experience both on the same afternoon.
